The scheduled foreclosure auction of a prime, full-block site near Petco Park has been delayed to give the bankrupt developer more time to arrange a $33 million bridge loan in hopes of salvaging the project.

Simplon Ballpark LLC reached an agreement Friday with its largest lender, SDG-Left Field, to delay foreclosure that was scheduled for yesterday morning, said Tom Nelson, a bankruptcy lawyer for Simplon. The auction is now slated for Friday.

Simplon has proposed building a 39-story hotel/condo tower called Cosmopolitan Square at J Street and Seventh, Eighth and Island avenues in East Village. Simplon fell behind on loans it took out to buy the site and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March.

Controlled by Steve Black of San Diego's Cisterra Development, SDG-Left Field bought Simplon's largest loan about a year ago from the original lender, Liberty Bankers Insurance. SDG-Left Field is owed more than $20 million, including unpaid interest and penalties.

Black was widely viewed as more interested in acquiring the prime downtown block at a bargain than getting the loan repaid. But with the economy and credit seizing up, Black now appears to be willing to settle for cash.

“In today's market, we're not opposed to just being paid off,” said Jason Wood, a senior vice president of Cisterra. “They seemed to be close enough to the goal line that it was worth giving them a few more days.”

Whoever winds up with the site faces the prospect of having to hold onto it for up to five years years before market conditions justify a hotel/condo project, said Gary London of the London Group, a real estate consulting firm in San Diego.

“Even with an asset of this high quality, you can't develop it,” London said. “So why not grant a week's extension? I think it shows (Black's) sense of fair gamesmanship.”

If SDG-Left Field did acquire the property, it could seek land-use approval for something different. Cisterra primarily builds offices, including the 15-story DiamondView Tower two blocks from the Simplon site. Cisterra sold DiamondView last month for $161 million.

“We'd be happy either way. We'd be happy being paid off and we'd be happy getting the dirt,” said Wood of Cisterra.

Simplon spent $25.5 million buying the block in 2005 and now owes more than $40 million on the land to about a dozen creditors.